More than 30003600 e-pages of photos, facts, and information.

Descriptions and photos of every jersey for every team for every year since 1970. You'll never buy a jersey again without checking this guide first.

Incredible Detail

Incredible team-by-team detail for all 30 current teams plus the Montreal Expos and Washington Senators, covering every year-to-year change since 1970. Every patch, every trim change, lettering outline color detail for home, road, alternate jerseys, as well at Batting Practice and all special events jerseys.

Fanatic? Keep reading

All-Star Game jerseys, team lettering fonts overview, the history of team Batting Practice jerseys, how jerseys are lettered, where to get your jerseys lettered (or re-lettered), oddballs and prototypes galore for every team.

Team Editions

If you have one favorite team you collect and don't care about the rest, purchase your team's edition. Costs less, takes up less space on your tablet or laptop, and you can upgrade later for a discounted price. Available now!

Instantly Downloadable.

Download instantly — available for PC/Windows, Mac, and works on iPad and other tablets, as well as color versions of both Kindle and Nook.

Want to use on a tablet but not sure how to get it there? Find out how.

Curious? Look Inside.

Note: The actual Cubs chapter in the Guide is 92 pages. Only 53 pages are shown here and image quality has been reduced.

Purchased an earlier edition?

Supply your name and the email address you likely used when you purchased your copy. We will find you in our database and reply with information on how to get the new edition.

In addition to updated team information through opening day of the 2017 season, you'll find the following new or redefined chapters in this version:

Every home/road/alternate team uniform change since the 2015 edition

Every new commemorative patch worn by each team, including all one-day memorials

A record of every St. Patrick’s, Turn Back the Clock game, and Ethnic Heritage jersey

All of the new-for-2017 Batting Practice jerseys

All of the new Spring Training jerseys, for both 2016 and 2017

A new chapter covering the Washington Senators, 1970-1971

Every one of the Memorial Day, Independence Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day game uniforms for every year

The chapters for the Expos, Padres and Royals have been extended to 1969, so all uniforms from these teams’ start in MLB are included. (The Brewers chapter also includes the 1969 Pilots)

A new chapter with “Stitchers’ Stories” — candid memories from a half dozen people on the inside who design and sew player uniforms

The Cubs’ 2017 gold-trimmed ring ceremony uniforms

A whole bunch of newly-found oddballs, prototypes, and arcane details that you’ll only find here

Since the Seventh Edition (2015), there are 600 additional pages, as well as 625 additional major changes (new primary photos or facts) to existing pages. The new edition is more than 3600 pages long.

Table of Contents

Introductory Chapters

1

Introduction

The purpose of this book, Foreword, the scope of what is included inside, a summary of changes since the last edition.

2

Jersey Basics; Fabric, Trim, Lettering

Fabric evolution, sleeve types, fabric types and colors, Cool Base adoption tables for each team, Flex Base new for 2016, different types of trim, techniques of jersey lettering, introduction to lettering patterns, different ways that player name on back (NOB) are applied, MLB and team sleeve patches, official team undershirts.

3

Manufacturer Tagging

Visible and hidden manufacturer tagging on game jerseys can tell us when the jersey was made and whether it was made for the team’s use on the field, or made for retail sale. Covers all companies who have made game jerseys since 1970.

4

Commemorative Patches

All event and memorial patches worn by multiple teams as directed by the league: for a single day, for an entire season or anything in between. Includes All-Star Game and postseason patches, as well as league anniversary patches and memorial ribbon patches.

5

Special Event Game Jerseys

A breakdown of all the different types of special-event jerseys teams wear in MLB, starting with first St. Patrick’s Day jerseys of the early 1980s. Includes the evolution of the wide range of ethnic celebration jerseys, Turn back the Clock, Negro League Tributes, Jackie Robinson Day, “Ring Ceremony” jerseys, and holiday jerseys including Memorial Day, US Independence Day, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

6

"Fake Authentics:" Avoiding Retail Counterfeits

This chapter addresses the oxymoronic concept of Counterfeit Authentics: store-bought (or, more usually, Internet-sourced) jerseys that purport to be authentic like those worn on the field, but are actually sweatshop-sewn fakes designed to defraud buyers, legitimate manufacturers, and even the MLB players whose names they bear.

7

"Is It Game Worn?" A Basic Guide to Authentication

A moderately deep-dive into things that authenticators look for to determine if a game-worn jersey really IS game worn. Reading this chapter won’t make you an expert, but it will give you a lot to think about when considering making a purchase for your collection.

8

Batting Practice and Spring Training Jerseys

Since they first appeared in the 1970s, official team warmup gear has grown in popularity among collectors as a colorful and lower-priced entry to the hobby. This chapter details all the phases of BP jersey development and marketing right through the new-for 2016 Spring Training jerseys and the newest iteration of Batting practice jerseys released for 2017.

Team Chapters

9-40

Dedicated Team Chapters

A chapter for each current MLB team plus ones for the Montreal Expos and Washington Senators.

Special Chapters

41

All Star Game Jerseys

Starting with special jerseys worn for the first All-Star game in 1933, and jumping to 1997 when all team wore special themed jersey for event warmup, batting practice and the Home Run Derby. They are all covered here.

42

Stitchers' Stories

Researching this book through its many editions has brought me into contact with dozens of fascinating people. The most interesting of all, are the people who were there at the start: those who have played an active role in helping to create these team uniforms, bringing them from the drawing board to the cloth. Here are personal stories from six friends.

43

Player Name and Number Fonts

A snapshot and some insight on of the dozens of player name and number lettering fonts used by every team, 1970 through 2017.

44

Readers’ Questions

Some of the most typical questions I am asked about authenticity, jersey collecting and storage, lettering and restoration, buying jerseys from dealers and on eBay, and insuring one’s collection.

45

“The Game Worn Exam”

A 40-question fun test of your knowledge of jersey authenticity.

46

Acknowledgements and Final Notes

The people who contributed to make this Guide better with each edition, and tips on how this book’s research has been done.

Since you asked...

There is technically no reason why, if you are connected to WiFi with your iPad or other tablet device, that you can't download to it directly. Many buyers do just that. But if your connection is bad or slow, downloading this 800MB file can take a very long time — and if it fails in the middle, you may need to start the download over again. That can be annoying.

Your computer is more tolerent of bad or slow connections. If you have trouble with a direct download to your tablet, I recommend downloading to your PC or Mac and then using any of the file transfer tools (Dropbox, iTunes) or a thumbdrive (if your tablet has a USB port) to transfer it over to the tablet.

Once you purchase, you are also given the option to import the file directly into a Dropbox account. You can then use Dropbox's tablet app (must first be installed) to view the file.

Helpful Note

Hi! We see you are going to purchase using your mobile device. May we offer some helpful advice?

You'll get a download link emailed to you. You can try your download directly to your tablet, but the file is large and sometimes it gets stuck. If this happens to you, here are some tips to make the process work for you.

Helpful downloading instructions for tablet users:

This is a very large file that is best
loaded directly to a laptop or desktop computer.
You can try to download it directly to the tablet after purchase.
If you have a good, fast WiFi connection it just might work perfectly the very first time! But if you see it getting hung up, or it repeatedly fails, try the next step.

Download using Dropbox. The link to Dropbox is included on the download message we sent you. If you don’t have a Dropbox account already, you can sign up for free immediately and use it. A word of advice, make sure your tablet does not go to sleep during the file-opening process, or the WiFi connection may be lost and the file will not completely load.

If these download methods don’t work for you, download the file to a desktop or laptop PC or Mac, then use one of the several “stock” methods to transfer files to the tablet.